Mountain 101 radio station officially launches in September, focuses on older, local crowd

Tim Patishnock is excited for the opportunities that could come with the new radio station he is working with.

He is the program director for the Mountain 101, a new radio station focusing on adult album alternative music. The Mount Pleasant junior said the station currently broadcasts on 101.1 FM, has been on the air for a couple of months and will be officially launched in September.

The new station will be run by WMHW.

“You can really find something that you like on this station,” Patishnock said. “Acoustic, jazz, world, rock, indie, folk — I really tried to make it as diverse as possible.”

The Mountain 101 originally started as an HD station that would require a subscription to listen to.

After HD failed to catch on as they had hoped, Patishnock said they went back to the drawing board to create a local radio station anyone in town can listen to.

The station will feature artists from as far back as the 1970s to more modern musicians such as Coldplay and John Mayer. Patishnock said his goal was to keep a good balance between music that is both new and exciting and old and familiar.

“91.5’s focus is on modern rock, which is more cutting edge and more aggressive,” Patishnock said. “I personally saw the new station as being geared toward a somewhat older crowd and skewing more female.”

Berkley freshman Vince Pettelle said he feels the station is not geared toward college students and the type of music they enjoy. However, he said that if he was in a relaxed mood, he would consider checking out the new station.

“There are no stations like that around here — it’s all rap,” Pettelle said. “It might be cool.”

Mike Hoover, a Grand Rapids junior and station manager, said he hopes to use the station to promote local events and charities.

The Mountain 101 only reaches about a six-mile radius, so it will be a purely Mount Pleasant station.

“We’re really hoping to get a good local pull and following so people can have a way to get news about events around town,” Hoover said.